Drumhead-tensioning device



Aug. 10,1925. 1,595,451

' G. D. COLE ET AL DRUMHEAD TENSI ON ING` DEVI CE Filed Jan. 15, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 1 JF- CEL 7 Ellen D. [1. [119W Kenn ehmenck' arto: unf

- Aug. 10 192s.

1,595,451 G. D. COLE ET Aa.

DRUMHEAD TENSI ON ING DEVICE'- Filed Jan, 18, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E E.

ml ml Patented Aug. 10, 15926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GLEN D. COLE AND KENNETH F. KLENCK, OF LIBBY, MONTANA.

DRUMHEAD-TENSIONING DEVICE.

Application filed January 18, 1923. Serial No. 613,434A

This invention relates to improvements in percussion drums, including va novel drum head tightening apparatus.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of an improved apparatus by means of which the drum head may be quickly and conveniently adjusted ina minimum of time, as to effectively posltion the drum head in a desired taut or slack position` A further object of this invention is the provision of drum head tightening appalatus, by means of which the drum head may be most effectively tightened uponr its drum shell, as to occasion no unnecessary or eccentric strain, so that the drum may produce a superior quality tone and withstand the ordinary strains placed thereon incident to adjustment and play.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a drum head tightening apparatus which may be universally used inconnection with ,allr types of vpercussion drums, such as snare drums, bass drums, kettle drums, combination organ drums, banjos, and the like, including a pitch adjusting means by which the drum head may be drawn to the desired taut or slack position, so that the drum may sound in different keys.

A further object `of this invention is the provision of an improved drunrhead tightening apparatus, yby means of which the hoop of the drum head maybe evenly drawn about its entire circumference into taut relation, so that no warping of the hoop will take place.

A further object of this invention 1s the provision of drum head tightening apparatus of the above mentioned character, by means of which the player may instantly tighten or slacken the drum head so that there will be no occasion for neglect to loosen the drum head, as is frequently the case, resulting in rupture incident to extreme temperature changes.

Other objects and advantages of this invention willbe apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanyingdrawings,r forming a part of this specification, and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a cross sectional view, taken through the improved drum substantially along the line A-A of Figure 3, showing the novel details of the improved drum head tightening apparatus.

Figure Q, is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing the novel devices which are placed at a plurality of points about the drum and for connection to the drum heads to effect drum head adjustment.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken substantiallyr on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially' on the line ie-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an operating handle used to effect drum head adjustment. 4

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a ring gear used in connection with the improved drum head adjusting apparatus.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional View, taken substantially on the line 7 7 of Figure l, showing more particularly a pawl and ratchet mechanism to hold a desired drum head adjustment.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown but the preferred embodiment of this invention, the letter A designates the ordinary drum details, which may include a shell l0, and drum head construction ll, while the letter B may designate the improveudrum head adjusting apparatus, comprising an annular rack l2; means 13 'For operating the annular rack 12; and devices lit for operative connection to the annular rack and drum head for adjustment of the latter by operation of the annular rack.

Referring to the drum shell 10, the same may be of any approved construction, such as is used in connection with the various types of percussion drums, and may include one or more of the drum head constructions 11. The drum head construction 11 may be of the well known type, consisting of the skin or vellum 20, having the circumferential portions thereof wrapped about and secured to the circula-r flesh hoop 22,-and inof novel c nstruetion, ircular or seni e ital in c having teeth zo provided en a side thereol,

which are a construction to contorni to the general circular cross sectionine oi' annular rack. Thil racl; l2 is p c mounted vri-.thin the compartment or tne All l0, beln y supported at plural 1"' points by be a i cached in a to i therein tor concentrieall ifv of said shell.

Referring to the devices le?, a l i the same are provided circi entiallf,- about the drum, at equi-distant points, lor operation by movement or the annular racl: l2, as Will be snbsequentl51 described, to ef- 'iect the transverse movement oi' the hoops 22 and 28 ot' the drum head constructioi'i il, for adjustment or" the shin or vellum Q to the desired tightness or slaclrness. he devices le ma)v be of identical construction, and each ot the saine includes a short shatt rotatabh7 carried by the shell l0, as to extend radiallj,Y therethrough. ln order to properly position the shalt 2O in stable inanner, it preferred thatv a oircuni'terenti groove 3l be provided thereabout Within Which a Wear plate or supporting' Washer ma;7 engage. the exterior surface ot the shell l0. Upon the interi-or surface oli' the shell l0, a metal bearing,` 33 preterabli7 provided, Within which the shaft 30 is `ioni'- nalled; the bearings or men ber' and 3? preferably being' secured tone ler and to the shell l0. as o t Yleinents y j* rivet or boly substantially as illustrated in `i `igure 3 or the drawings. In this manner, an end ot each shaft l0 extends interio 'ly ot the shell l0 to receive a relatively small spur lgear 35 in meshing engagement ivith the teeth 25 ot the annular rack .vhile the other end ot each shaft 8O extends exteriorl'v ot the shell l0, and has spur gear 3? keyed thereto.

Each of the devices 14rincludes a racl: bar 3S Which etenes transversely ot the drum, substantiallyfv right angles to the plane delined by the annrl rack 1Q, and is provided ivith a pl tyY of teeth in meshing relation vitn the teeth ot the spur gear 3T. rthis bar 3S is supported exteriorlyv ot the shell l0, by means oi a bearing e0. so that the "le may be transversely sin v being preferred that the portion ot' the tar A38 upon which the teeth E9 are provided be the hoop The members ist are preterablyv ot metal and include an upstandinfl hollow segmental portion, providing a conrpartrient. elo therein, and havingl their lower portions flanged, as att, for attachment rivets or other elements i7 to the outer eireumiference of the drinn hoop Q3, substantiallj,v as is illustrated in the drav i dat Wall Li9 oi" the upstanding portion of each attaching member sld; is provided with a keyhole openingV therein ada'ited to receive the headed end ot a rack bar 38 in detachable manner, thus providing a joint construction, which will permit quiolt attachment or detachment oi the drinn head construction with respect to the drinn.

The details above described ma)7 be pro vided upon any of the -various types ot' drums. In the drawings, a single tension drum is shown, having tivo drinn head constructions, which are substantially duplio each other. ln this type ot corstruction itI is to be noted that each spur gear 3T may have ay pair of rack bars 38 meshing therewith and extending to the oppositel7 disposed drnin head constructions 11, so that said drum head constructions may be simultaneously ad'usted upon movement oi' the spur gears 37. Housings may be attached exteriozll4 upon the drum shell l0 to -enease the toothed portions ot' the raclr bars 3S and the pinions 3.7, so that onl7 the free end portions ot the rack bars entends in slidable manner transverse l); through said housings This provides a neat protecting struoture.

In the case oi the kettle drum, onlyY one rack bar 38 need be provided for each spur gear 3?, as can Well be understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention p rtains. By using two ol the annular racks and necessary attachments, a drum including tvvo of' the head constructions 11 can have `said heads adjusted at ditl'ercnttensions7 so that they may sound in diil'erentkeys.

Referring to the means 13 for operating` the annular rack l2, the .saine includes a shaitt- GO altogether similar to the shafts 30 above described, and radially mounted through the shell l() for rotation, in manner similar to the mounting ol each of the shafts 30. This shaft is provided with a pinion the shaft 60 to circunrferentially move the annular rack 12. A pawl and ratchet mechanism is provided to maintain ythe shaft 6() against movement, which includes a ratchet lWheel 66, keyed or fastened in any approved manner to the shaft 60 intermediate the shell 10 and the pinion 65, and Which has a pavvl element 67 which is oscillatively supported Within the shell 10 and upon the same, having a spring 68 which normally maintains the same in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet- Wheel 62. A headed end 69 of the pavvl 67 may extend outwardly through an arcuate slot 70, in the shell 10, for manual operation, so that the improved drum head adjusting'means may be operated to slacken the taut position of the drum head or heads.

From the foregoing description of this invention, it is apparent that a drum head tightening or adjusting apparatus has been provided, by means of which a player may quickly tension or release the drum `head construction and in the most effective manner. The set of spur gears 35 carried inwardly of the shell'lO, by the rotatable shaft 30, are of course koperated simultaneously upon rotation of the annular rack 12. Likewise, the set of spur gears 37 exteriorly carried by the shaft 30 are operated simultaneously to effect simultaneous transverse. movement of all of the rack bars 38 carried by a drum construction, the direction of movement of the rack bars 38 preferably being at exactly right angles to the planes defined by the annular rack 12 and the drum head construction. This movement for adjustment of the drum head will permit of the even tightening ofthe same in contradistinction to the diagonal tightening devices which have been used heretofore. Vixen used on the type of percussion drum embodying batter and snare drum heads, the improved tightening apparatus Will in no Way interfere with the strings of the snare heads. A further and important feature of the improved apparatus i is the means by Which the drum heads may be individually quickly detached from the drum shell. -When used on kettle drums, the player can tighten or loosen the drum head to give the required tone, the adjusting operating necessary requiring oni).Y second or so, if it is necessary to change the tone of a drum in the middle of a selection being played. It is at once evident 'that this permits the player to give his undivided attention to the playing of his various drums, Without vthe distraction of prolonged adjustment necessary upon many types of drums. v

Various changes inthe shape, size and arrangement of parts may be made to the form of the improved drum headv adjusting apparatus herein described, without departing `from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

lVe claim:

1. A drum comprising ashell, a head on each side of said shell, an annular rack in said shell, means for adjusting the annular rack, said means being carried by the shell and operated externally thereof, and drum head adjusting means extending through the Walls of the shell and operated by movement of said rack.

2. A drum comprising a shell, a drum head tightening device comprising an annularr rack positioned Within the shell, means for circumferential adjustment of the annular rack, said means being operated externally of the shell, a plurality of shafts journaled in the shell and extending radially thereof, a. set of spur gears on the inner portions of said shafts meshing with said rack to impart rotation to the shafts upon movement of the rack, a second set of spur gears carried by the outer end portions of said shafts, and drum head engaging racks meshing with the second set of spur gears and adapted to be moved thereby transversely of the plan-e of the annular rack.

3. A drum construction comprising a shell, a drum, an annular rack mounted interiorly of the shell for circumferential movement thereabout, and means carried by the shell and having a portion positioned Within the shell and connected to the rack and a portion positioned externally of the shell and engaging the drum head to effect adjustment of the drum head by movement of the rack.

4. A drum comprising a shell, a drum head, an annular rack movably carried interiorly of the shell for circumferential movement thereabout, means connected to the rack and extending exteriorly of the shell for connection to the drum head, and means for adjusting the rack to move said first mentioned means to adjust said drum head.

5. A drum construction comprising a shell, a drum head, an annular rack mounted within the shell and circumferentially movable about the shell, a plurality of shafts r0- tatably carried by the shell and extending radially thru the Walls thereof, a set of gears carried by said shafts in meshing relation with the rack, a second set of gears carried by the outer end portions of the shafts, racks slidably carried by the shell externally thereof in meshing relation with the second set of gears, means connecting the last mentioned racks to the drum head, and means for moving said annular rack.

6. A drum construction comprising a cylindrical shaped shell, a drum head, an annular rack, means mounting said annular racli nteriorly of the shell for concentric eireum'lierenial movement therein, a pluralitg7 0'1"' shafts radially carrie@L by said shell for rotation haring the ends thereof interorlj: and exteriory ef-:tencling through said shell, a set of' gears Carri-ed by the inner eues 0Ip said shafts in meshing relation 1with the anular raeli, a set of gears erteriorlyv carried hy said sl afts, rack hars, housings carried by the shell in Covering relation to the outer gears and mounting said rack bars exteriorly o the shell for transverse sliding thereon upon opgosite side of and. in meshing relation With tle outer set of gears, means conneoting said drum head to the rael: bars, and means for selective positioning and movement of the annular rack, whereby said rael hars maj.7 be adjusted for tensioning ol said drum head.

GLEN D. COLE.

KENNETH F. KLENCK. 

